Tradition at Christmas

Whew... I am exhausted but thrilled to have celebrated Christmas Day with my family

Our Christmas is rich in tradition starting with this

Yes, this is a white damask table cloth that is signed with permanent marker

Many years ago my mom saw this idea on Oprah to have all of the Christmas guests sign the tablecloth

We have at least 50 people in and out of the house on Christmas Day and everyone signs "in"

Little ones and big ones are all accounted for on the cloth...

Some write their own name and the little ones hands are traced

After it is used for dinner it is washed and used again the following year

My mom then uses the filled up table cloth for a tree skirt

This one is retiring this year and will be added to our first cloth under the tree

It takes about 9 years to fill up a cloth completely

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Another tradition at Christmas is this

Antipasto salad with extra extra (2 large cans) of black olives

The antipasto is made by me each year since I was about 13

Prior to that my mom made it

The antipasto includes

Assorted lettuce

green onions

tomatoes

ham

3 cheeses

pepperoni

2 kinds of olives

red onions

cucumbers

pepperocini

radishes

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It is served with home made garlic bread and Good Season Italian dressing

It goes FASTTTTT...

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Another tradition includes

Little ones with tons of boxes and papers and presents strewn all over the living room floor

Oh and not so little kids (anymore) getting together to celebrate too later in the evening!

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The best part about Christmas for me is seeing my family

even the annoying ones!

Just as the table signing and food we eat are tradition so it the invitation to come to my mom and dads on Christmas night

We as a family are very Blessed